Chapter 1777 – 1777. Vampire Detective
The hard ground melted and flowed like it was dissolving. Then, it grabbed my feet like strong adhesive.
Purple smoke began to swirl around me. It was poison gas. I stopped breathing as soon as I realized it.
An invisible force, perhaps telekinesis, was pressing down on me. And that wasn’t all. The temperature rose, and suddenly, blood started flowing from my hands.
‘Vampire powers.’
I couldn’t hold out for long. Each power was weak, but when dozens were activated at once, they were quite strong.
*Swoosh!*
I cut down one of the vampire progenitors. He didn’t even scream as he died, remaining expressionless. He didn’t accept death as death. Of course, I knew the reason. All the vampires here were just one person, Sung Soo-woon. That vampire was like a fingernail to Sung Soo-woon.
‘Maybe not even a fingernail, but just a cuticle.’
Even while fighting, I kept an eye on Secretary Kim. Right now, her safety was more important than anything. I absolutely couldn’t bear to see her killed.
Smart Secretary Kim chose to distance herself from the battle rather than help me.
Fortunately, Sung Soo-woon didn’t seem interested in her. He probably thought that if he killed me, he could kill her anytime.
*Clang!*
The Super Blade I swung didn’t cut through the vampire’s body but bounced off. The vampire’s body had turned into something like ore. I didn’t know what kind of ore it was, but the laser blade couldn’t penetrate it.
“Let’s see if other parts are as hard.”
I was about to swing my sword again when it suddenly felt lighter. I glanced to the side and saw the two pieces of my broken sword falling to the ground.
The Super Blade relied more on the cutting power of the laser blade than its durability. I never imagined there would be something in this world that a laser blade couldn’t cut.
“Hehehe. Now you don’t have that fancy sword, do you?”
The vampire in front of me laughed annoyingly. I laughed back at him.
“Hehe. You still don’t know my abilities?”
Well, he might not. In this world, I rarely engaged in direct combat. The only one who knew my abilities well was Secretary Kim.
‘Storm Breaker.’
A giant spear appeared in the air and slammed down on the vampire’s head. The vampire’s body, which the Super Blade couldn’t even scratch, was shattered into pieces.
‘Come.’
I reached out to the Storm Breaker stuck in the ground. The Storm Breaker disassembled into pieces. Hundreds of thousands of metal fragments flew towards me and began to reassemble.
I was now wearing full-body armor that covered even my eyes, but my body felt much lighter. Breathing was easier too. The Storm Breaker had blocked the powers that were pressing down on me.
‘Hwaryeon Bido.’
I grabbed the red sword that appeared in the air. The sword merged with the Storm Breaker.
*Crackling!*
Red sparks flew from my entire body.
I opened my palm. A sword appeared on my hand. It was the Storm Breaker’s clone ability.
I gripped the sword tightly and dashed forward.
[Using Acceleration. Duration: 10 minutes. Remaining stacks: 3]
A dash towards the vampires.
The enemies were flustered. They probably didn’t expect me to run straight into the middle of their ranks. Soon, they moved in perfect unison. Even though dozens of them moved at once, there was no wasted motion. It was only natural. They were all one person.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Gale Lightning (疾風迅雷).
[Using Instant (刹那). Remaining stacks: 2]
I crashed into the center of their formation before they could fully settle in. A shockwave charged with lightning spread in all directions, sweeping through the vampires. Electrocuted by the lightning, they couldn’t hold on and fell to the ground.
Even then, vampires kept appearing.
“Not yet.”
“You think it’ll end with just that?”
“It’s just the beginning.”
Dozens of vampires around me actively used their powers to attack me. Some of them enhanced their bodies and charged. Of course, they couldn’t harm me, protected by the Storm Breaker.
‘Still, the damage is accumulating.’
The Storm Breaker was tough. But I, inside the Storm Breaker, wasn’t as tough. Every movement drained my stamina, and every attack reduced my mana. As time passed, victory seemed further away. My enemy, Sung Soo-woon, knew this too.
*Swoosh!*
I cut down a vampire that was aiming for my back. It was a clean cut, but it didn’t feel right. It wasn’t that the sword was dull. My concentration had been disrupted by stray thoughts, affecting my technique.
‘Okay.’
I cleared my mind.
‘Just kill what I see. Then they’ll die.’
No thoughts.
I killed the enemies I saw.
The only sounds were the splattering of blood, the crackling of lightning, and the thud of bodies falling.
And then, at some point, the sounds disappeared. I snapped back to my senses and saw vampire corpses scattered around me. Immediately after, my whole body began to ache. It was the sensation of pushing my muscles to their limit.
“…Amazing. I knew you were strong, but I didn’t expect this much.”
I looked up.
A total of 12 vampires were floating in the air.
They were different from the vampire progenitors I had easily killed. The atmosphere they exuded was heavy.
‘The endless stream of vampire progenitors has stopped.’
I had a rough idea.
“Did you eat dozens of your own kind?”
“Own kind? It’s more accurate to say I ate myself.”
“The guy who went berserk before has some nerve.”
“That berserk state was just a process.”
I extended my trembling hand towards them. Red lightning gathered in front of my hand and rotated clockwise.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Swirling Lightning (卍雷).
The lightning was fired at the vampires. The lightning, which had been rising as if defying the sky, suddenly curved and slammed into the ground.
Space distortion.
And it was a pretty high-level manipulation of space. I understood how he had brought vampires from all over the world here.
‘I thought it wouldn’t be the power of an ordinary progenitor… He must have eaten at least 100 of his own kind.’
The other 11 were also extraordinary. I couldn’t win in my current condition.
*Creak!*
Pressure was applied to my body. Gravity. Gravity had suddenly become stronger. I tried my best to resist, but I had no choice but to kneel under the increasingly powerful gravity.
“Now the world is over. Even if I can’t become the master of the world, the end of the world will be marked by my hand.”
One of the vampires slowly descended to the ground. He held a sharply honed sword in his hand.
“Kuaaak!”
I groaned in pain. Something unknown had penetrated my armor and entered my body.
‘Is it something like a spirit? It’s tearing through my muscles.’
The pain was extraordinary. It was comparable to the pain of having my bones and muscles torn apart. I wanted to shake off this awful energy right now.
“Kuaaaaak!”
Even as I screamed, the vampire continued to descend.
“I will cut off your head and display it on the highest mountain in this land.”
Sung Soo-woon raised his sword. I could feel tremendous power from the sword. At least three different powers were maintaining that sword.
The sword fell.
I moved at that moment.
[Using Full Recovery.]
I recovered my energy with Full Recovery.
[Activating Heavenly Mind (天心). Duration: 1 minute.]
I shook off the things pressing down on my body with Heavenly Mind.
[Activating Genius Time for 10 seconds.]
My best talent was imbued in my body. My senses expanded, and my thinking speed accelerated. I perfectly controlled the energy raging in my body.
[Using Instant (刹那). Remaining stacks: 1]
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Ultimate Technique (極技) Heavenly Light (天光)
I became a streak of light, cutting down the vampire in front of me and rising upwards. Sung Soo-woon hadn’t even reacted yet. Even though Instant had ended, time felt like it had stopped.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Void Path (虛道).
I created a foothold in the air and forcefully changed direction. I moved forward like light reflecting. At the end of that path was a vampire still looking down at the ground.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Void Path (虛道).
I changed direction and killed the vampire.
I wanted to kill them all, but my strength gave out halfway, and I only managed to kill 10. I felt a wave of exhaustion wash over me as I fell to the ground.
“You crazy bastard!”
Sung Soo-woon was shocked. I stood up to kill the remaining two.
[Using Instant (刹那). Remaining stacks: 0]
I leaped forward, grabbed a vampire’s neck with one hand, and stabbed a sword into his chest. The vampire died, spitting blood.
‘One more.’
I turned my head sharply and glared at him. He used his power. Space distorted, and Secretary Kim appeared from there, captured. His claws were aimed at her neck. Her face was stiff.
“Don’t move, Sung Yu-jin!”
“…There were two space manipulators.”
I clicked my tongue. I had prioritized killing the space manipulator first, but I never imagined that one of the last ones left would be another space manipulator.
“I won’t die alone. If you move even a little, I’ll kill the matriarch.”
“What are you going to do? Just run away? Do you think I’ll just watch?”
“The world is already over, where are we going to run? First, take off that damn armor.”
The Storm Breaker was removed. It turned into a spear and fell next to me.
In the process, Genius Time ended. That was bad. I had used all my Instant stacks, and the Heavenly Mind I was still maintaining was not helpful in this situation.
‘If I use points to reset the cooldown of Instant…’
Sung Soo-woon smiled slyly.
“I didn’t originally plan to do such a dirty trick. I didn’t think it would be very effective either. But seeing your face, it’s not so bad. Was this woman that special? Suicide… no. I can’t let you go that easily. First, cut off your own legs.”
*Bang!*
A gunshot rang out.
Secretary Kim had pointed a gun at her own abdomen and fired. The bullet pierced her abdomen and the vampire. The vampire staggered, and Secretary Kim fell forward. In the process, his claws scratched her neck.
I gritted my teeth and ran.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Gale Lightning (疾風迅雷).
I closed the distance in an instant and smashed the vampire’s head with my fist. I didn’t even look at his corpse and stared at Secretary Kim.
